Hundreds of volunteer ham radio operators will partner with forecasters
at nearly 40 weather service offices, to broadcast weather information
to as many other amateur radio stations as possible. Amateur
radio operators typically volunteer time and equipment to help
broadcast weather warnings during severe weather. The exercise
will run from 6 p.m. CST on Nov. 26 to 6 p.m. Nov. 27.

"We are fully Y2K tested and ready
to continue providing timely weather information as we enter
the new millennium," said John J. Kelly Jr., director of
NOAA's National Weather Service. "However, the back-up test
of weather reporting with our ham radio partners adds another
element in our commitment to public safety and service. We are
confident in our Y2K readiness, because we've spent three years
testing and modifying our mission-critical systems of radars,
ground sensors, and computers, as well as the weather satellites
of NOAA's National Environmental
Satellite, Data, and Information Service.

Meteorologist-in-Charge Scott Menzter of
the Goodland
Kan., Weather Forecast Office, devised the amateur radio
testing plan, which started as a tribute to ham operators in
northwest Kansas and blossomed to a project involving weather
service offices around the country.

"We started the Y2K back-up test to
give much-deserved recognition to the ham radio operators who
work with the Goodland office and often provide critical communications
links during severe weather, and it just grew as ham operators
and forecast offices learned about it," said Mentzer, who
is a ham radio operator himself. "The exercise provides
an opportunity for weather service personnel and ham operators
to share knowledge and test each other's capabilities before
a severe weather situation. Our folks are encouraged to use the
radios and to get themselves licensed in the event that a ham
operator is not available during a severe weather event."